Here’s What You Can Expect from Fringe 2018, the Manila’s Biggest Multi-Arts Festival

February is Philippine Arts Month, and with that comes Fringe 2018—Metro Manila’s biggest multi-arts festival. The way it works is that different groups stage performances, events, and workshops in different locations throughout the month.

This year, Fringe’s programs are concentrated in Poblacion which is pretty appropriate, given the area’s reputation as a new haven for artists and bohemians. The organizers of Fringe did this to make it easy for people to hop from one showcase to another. They’ve also partnered with Alliance Francaise Manille, Japan Foundation, British Council, and the Austrian Embassy of Manila to bring in foreign artists.

“Fringe’s mission is to make art accessible to audiences here in Manila who want to engage with the arts through fresh lenses and experience works that resonate with them,” says Andrei Nikolai Pamintuan, founding board member and director of Fringe Manila.

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“It’s so important for these types of festivals to exist. By bridging independent creatives with small businesses and working with cultural institutions, Fringe makes the arts a vehicle for meaningful collaborations, and a safe space for ideas and expanding networks,” adds Jodinand Aguillon, creative producer of Fringe Manila.

Here are a few of the acts you can look forward to:

Eljay Castro Deldoc’s Nobenta Nostalgia

Performed by singer, writer, and actor Phi Palmos, this one-man act is an “unfinished live documentation of the ’90s TV shows we all love and miss, told through interviews, monologues, and songs.” The show examines—and pokes fun at—our generation’s obsession with nostalgia.

February 18, 20, and 25, 8:00 p.m. at Pineapple Lab

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Karera by PUP Maharlika Dance Artists

If you’re interested in contemporary dance, check out Karera. PUP Maharlika’s stirring first production contemplates the banal brutality of the urban rat race and is “an expression of the proverbial survival of the fittest in society.”

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February 23, 7:00 p.m. and February 24, 4:00 p.m. at Tanghalang PUP

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Shak and the Baits

With Singaporean singer-songwriter Shak’s soulful vocals and the Baits’ bluesy, folksy sound, Shak and the Baits is quickly becoming a household name in the Garden City. Catch them when they fly in for the Fringe Festival on the 10th and 13th.

February 10, 8:00 p.m. at Humble Heron and February 13, 9:00 p.m. at Dulo

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Are You Lovin It? by GUMBO Japan

Award-winning Japanese comedy group GUMBO brings their bizarre brand of humor to Manila with “Are you lovin it?” Fringe describes the show as “a surreal romp with dancing Japanese businessmen, crazy cartoon mascots, and fast food satire.” Get ready to laugh until you can’t breathe.